MICRODOT A VOTEZ!

As the media warms up for the next election cycle, I feel as if it the beginning of the nextbig sporting event, Le Coupe de Monde! Isn't it like that in America? Our American Democracy shining bright, as a beacon to beckon the way for the rest of the world!
But what kind of a beacon have we provided, really?
Today it seems that the results of almost every election in a new or "emerging" Democracy is contested around the world. Today in the Republic of Georgia, last week in Kenya, a debacle which unleashed the horrors of pent up intertribal rivalries which erupted into genocidial massacres.
Benizar Bhuttos' Party had announced only hours before her assasination that they had proof that Musharrif was going to steal the election..
If elections aren't out and out stolen, then there is the spector of the freelance electoral consulting firms, such as that run by the professional cynical bastard, James Carville, who has exported the the PR and dirty politcal attack techniques of Karl Rove to Europe and Central America and made millions of dollars in consulting fees in the process. We are suffering from the effects of a Rovian inspired political campaign now here in France as the nations slowly wakes up and discovers that their mystery date president, Nicolas Bling Bling Sarkozy is not at all the product they thought they had purchased.
In other words, more crudely, Shit flows down! The compromised electoral process that exists in the United States now can hardly be considered a glowing example.
We have lowered the bar globally. After 2 seriously flawed presidential elections and the development and perfection of swiftboat smearing techniques in which a heroic service mans record can be twisted and used against him and the examples have been evident in both parties, Americas electoral debacles can only inspire the the bullies and the cheats of the planet to go as far as they dare.
What can we do? After all the controversy and proven charges about the hackability of our computer voting system of the future?
That's right, we still are going ahead with an election system in place that will allow almost 1/2 of the votes to be "registered" by compromised, hackable systems that have been tampered with in the past and will only be more hackable in the future.
Face it, there is no system that is safe from the the ingenuity of greed and corruption.
That's why it is imperative to make sure that in this upcoming election there are safe guards in place to insure there is a physical record of each vote cast.
There is a bill in congress now that needs your support, you can sign an online petition at moveon.org to let your representatives know that you want action!
If you want a quick lesson on how voter rights are being supressed, I suggest you visit The Man with the Muckrake for his primer on voter "caging" and other elementary techniques used to deny voters the right to vote. A very good discussion about the vunerability of the present technology was presented in Sundays New York Times.
The most common argument used to defend the present use of the Voting Machines is the cost already spent in investing in contracts with the firms that have provided this technology. That is an empty argument. If millions have been wasted in creating a corruptible system by cynical politicians who thought they were setting up a real cool scam to insure their power, tough!
We need a totally honest unquestionable way to cast our votes. I live in a little village..
At election time, you walk into the Mayors Office. You register.. You select your ballot and walk up to the clear glass ballot container. The official states your name as you walk up and after you drop in your ballot in plain view of everyone, the official concludes with, "a votez!"
What could be cheaper and more transparent than that!